The Meaning of Strength
by Maidenstear
Summary: Whenever he saw her, she was always so strong, never letting her emotions interfere with what she was doing, but he knew better...


Aneko: Oi, I'm back. Man oh man am I sick of being away from home. -- Well, here is my next fiction!!

Disclaimer: I do not, nor do I ever think I will, own Tales of the Abyss –goes off to cry in her corner of woe-

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The Meaning of Strength

Somewhere on Auldrant, a group of travelers was settling down for the night.

"Wah- Natalia, watch the food!" Anise called, jumping back from the cooking pot over the fire, which was smoking unpleasantly.

"Oh no!" Natalia rushed over, poking the contents with a a ladle, "I believe it's been burnt."

Anise peered in, holding her nose. "With _that_ smell, I'd say it's more than just burnt."

From a little distance away, Jade, Guy and Luke watched.

Jade sighed, shaking his head. "And _whose_ bright idea was it that we all spend some time out of the city again?"

"You'd think that after all this time Natalia would have learned to cook." Luke commented, leaning back against a tree. His hair, once again cut short after his long-awaited return, blew a bit in a gentle breeze.

"Well Natalia _did_ say she wanted to try tonight." Guy said, sweat dropping as he watched the contents in the pot catch fire, only to be put out again be a well-aimed pail of water thrown by Anise.

Anise walked over to the guys.

"Hey Guy, you think you could help us?" Anise said, trying one of her cutest poses on him.

"All right, all right." Guy said tiredly.

"Yay!"

"Luke, you'd better go tell Tear we'll be eating soon." Jade advised.

"Yeah, I'll do that." Luke said, standing.

_Now where'd she go?_ He thought, scratching the back of his head as he looked around. He vaguely remembered seeing her slip away from the group when they had first stopped.

Luke walked back up the path. She might be at the cliff they had passed earlier. As he rounded a turn he heard a voice.

_**Tue rei zue croa ryou tue zue**_

_**Croa ryou zue rei neu rei neu rue zue**_

_**Va ne zue rei neu tue neu tue croa**_

_**Ryu rei croa ryou zue rei va zue rei**_

_**Va ne va rei va ne va ze rei **_

_**Croa neu croa neu tue rei croa ryou ze rei va**_

_**Rei va rei croa tue rei neu**_

Luke saw her up ahead, and stopped a fair distance away.

Tear sat on the (small) cliff, facing away from him, her feet dangling over the edge. As Luke stood there, she repeated the hymn.

Luke closed his eyes. Tear's voice really was nice- sweet and gentle, yet also strong. But even if it was…

Luke opened his eyes again to watch her. Even though he had heard a great strength in just her voice, alone it was so small…almost…_frail_, even.

And also, through countless battles and hardships, he had seen her fighting, not hesitating- not even against her own brother, or when she was told she was going to die. She stayed strong and steady through those fights; but looking at her now, she seemed so small, so alone. It was amazing how she was able to put up a strong front like that, all the time.

Her emotions never interfered with what she had to do…but Luke knew better.

He had hardly even seen the side of Tear that _wasn't_ tough, but the few times he did see that façade crack, he had seen a normal person, as vulnerable and prone to being hurt as anyone else.

As she finished the Grand Hymn, Luke came up behind her. Hearing his approach, Tear turned to look at him.

"Luke, what is it?"

"It's almost time to eat."

"Oh." Tear made no move to get up, turning back to look over the cliff.

Luke sat beside her after a moment. "Were you singing for Master Van?"

"Yes." Tear said, a little surprised. "How could you tell?"

Luke shrugged. "I don't know. It just…sounded kind of sad."

Tear sighed. "I still miss him. Even though, right to the end, I knew we could never get him to agree with us, I also wanted to believe that there was a chance he would listen. It was a foolish thought."

"If you think you were foolish, then so was I. Even though he was our enemy, I still wanted Master Van to accept me as a person."

"Luke…"

"Heh, listen to me. Even now I still call him Master."

"It's who he was to you. Just like to me, he will always be my brother."

"You're still as calm as always."

"What?"

"in all the time I've known you, I've only seen you cry once." Luke said, thinking of the night, not so long ago, when he'd come back.

"Twice." Tear corrected quietly.

"Huh?"

"Twice: When we visited the doctor in Belkend and found out I was poisoned with the miasma."

"Funny. As I recall, you told me not to look at you, so I turned around."

"You idiot. You still knew I was crying in the first place," she pointed out.

"Yeah, well it's true that you're always acting tough. Haven't you ever wanted to act like a normal person in front of people? I know you're a soldier, but…"

How long had she put up this mask, before it became a habit?

"Are you saying I don't act normal?"

"No-I'm saying-you-augh, you act like- like- _you_, I guess!" Luke said effectively.

Tear gave a little laugh before speaking again.

"To tell you the truth, I do wish that I could she my emotions a little more, "Tear admitted, "But some part of me just won't _let_ me. The soldier part of me has been trained to be this way, and I've come to think the only way I know how to live is to be like this."

"To be tough? To be strong? Sometimes I think it takes more strength to show your weakness, or to cry, show that you're sad."

"What, you want me to cry now?"

"N-no! I just-"

Tear laughed. "It's okay."

"Tear?"

"What?"

"Will you sing it again?"

"…Okay."

Luke closed his eyes, smiling as he listened to the hymn.

This was how Tear showed her weakness. She put everything she was feeling into the hymn; and Luke understood.

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Aneko: Just wanted to take a jab at Tear;s toughness, heh heh. Ja, sayomara.


End file.
